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DEC Documents Reveal Undisclosed Oil Leaks Into Seneca Lake in 1975
Seneca Lake is one of the most popular tourist destinations in New York.
"Oh it's beautiful; absolutely amazing," said Aaron Whitinger.
Amazing: the way local environmental advocates want to keep it. On Thursday, they raised concerns about potential contaminants in the lake.
"Forty thousand gallons of No. 2 fuel oil," said Walter Hang of Toxics Targeting.
Toxics Targeting has released old documents that reveal 40,000 gallons of fuel oil was injected into a salt mine outside of Watkins Glen. According to the documents, the oil may have leaked into the lake in 1975.
"Now we know that some of these spills impacted the lake," said Hang. "This is a very remote area, so people may not have noticed the oil was present."
The leak was a result of a practice known as oil padding, which was common at that time, but is no longer used. The information was not disclosed to the public, though the DEC was aware of the leak.
Crestwood LP, the company that took ownership of the salt mine in 2008, said in a statement, "The DEC staff has called out opponents of propane storage for referencing facts and principles that are unproven or irrelevant. The fact is, the DEC has all of this information at its disposal, and its experts undeniably support the merits of our propane storage proposal."
They call the allegations irrelevant since the alleged spill occurred 40 years ago. But Toxics Targeting says that, since 1975, there have been several other spills, including as recently as 2003.
"If there are persistent sources of oil, they've gotta be cleaned up," said Hang.
Seneca Lake is the largest of the Finger Lakes, and the deepest lake in New York State. It's also the main source of drinking water for people living in Watkins Glen.
"This is an incomparable lake. This is one of the most famous and most valuable bodies of water in the entire world, and it warrants the highest level of protection. There should be absolutely no degradation of water quality in Seneca Lake," said Hang.
In the meantime, Toxics Targeting has asked Governor Andrew Cuomo to implement stricter laws aimed at protecting the lake from harmful contaminants.
The well where the 1975 spill originated is not connected to Crestwood LP's proposed LPG storage project.
Environmentalists 'hammering away,' opposing fuel pipelines through New York state
Opponents of a pipeline expansion that would flow through vast portions of New York want the Cuomo Administration to deny a key permit that could halt the upgrade.
The New Market Dominion pipeline is one of a dizzying array of fuel pipelines that flow through New York, in many cases taking natural gas from hydrofracking sites in other states to markets in New York and other places.
The pipeline, which is largely regulated by the federal government, is trying to expand its capacity and to build more powerful compressor stations at three sites along its route in the Southern Tier and Central New York.
But opponents says Governor Cuomo’s Department of Environmental Conservation has the power to shut the project down, because the pipeline company needs the DEC to sign off on a key water quality certification, as well as three air quality permits for the upgrades to the compressor stations.
Walter Hang, with the Ithaca-based Toxics Targeting, said his group already found instances where the existing pipeline violated state pollution standards. He said the state environmental agency should issue a new certification.
“Unfortunately the existing pipeline has already caused enormous water quality violations that were never cleaned up to state standards,” said Hang.
There’s already precedent for the state to reject the water quality permits. Cuomo’s environmental agency earlier this year denied a similar water quality certification for the Constitution pipeline, which was to be a newly-constructed line stretching across vast sections of Upstate New York.
Hang is one of the leaders of the anti-fracking movement that led to a ban on hydrofracking in New York State in late in 2014. He said he and others are turning up the heat on the Cuomo Administration during an extended public comment period that ended September 12th, writing letters and making phone calls.
“We’re just hammering away,” said Hang who said Cuomo’s claims as a climate change activist are in jeopardy if he issues the permits.
Hang said his group is seeking a “moratorium” on all fossil fuel project approvals anywhere in New York.
Dominion is not asking for a new pipeline, but instead requesting approval for an upgrade.
Lisa Marshall, who lives in Horseheads said that still means a big change. She said the new line would carry up to 112 million cubic feet of gas per day. “If you can imagine a football field a half a mile into the air, that’s the volume of gas they’re talking about,” Marshall said.
Marshall lives just a few blocks from the Horseheads compressor station. She said 50 homes, two day care centers, a group home for disabled people and many elderly citizens live within half a mile of the site. “A lot of them are concerned about safety, they’re concerned about the noise, ” Marshall said. “They’re concerned about their property values.”
Marshall said she and other advocates have learned, through the fracking fight, that applying political pressure can work. “If the governor hears us and feels like there’s enough of us that are upset about this, then maybe he’ll do something,” Marshall said. “That’s our hope.”
A spokesman for the Department of Environmental Conservation said the proposal does not involve building a new pipeline, and instead seeks to “modify an existing compressor station,” and create two new ones.
Spokesman Sean Mahar said the public comment period was already extended to “ensure the public had adequate opportunity” to help the environmental agency in its review. And he said all comments will be “considered prior to making any final determination.”
There’s currently no exact timetable on when a decision will be made.
Possible Soil Contamination At Old Salt Mine Site
SENECA LAKE (WENY)-- A local environmental database firm is publishing information regarding concerns about oil contamination at an old salt mine on Seneca Lake. Walter Hang from Toxics Targeting told us today that a now-banned practice involved injecting toxic fuel into an old salt mine, to protected the it from dissolving towards the earth's surface. He claims this outdated practice could be the reason for oil contamination of Seneca Lake.
"No one knew where this oil was originating until Crestwood U.S Salt kindly wrote me, and that's how come this is a very important disclosure of a historic legacy of toxic contamination that the community never knew about," says Hang.
Walter Hang says he received a letter from Crestwood U.S. Salt earlier this month, that identified a technique called oil padding, that is no longer used - although it was a common practice back in the 1970's. In 1975, a well owned by International Salt Company contained 40-thousand gallons of number two fuel oil. In February of that year, there was an incident that led to oil getting into Seneca Lake. In 1995, NYSEG discovered contaminated soil in the same area. Hang says once this oil is in the ground, it's virtually impossible to get out. That's why he wrote Governor Cuomo a letter, asking to investigate other wells along the Seneca Lake area.
"The question is: are any of the other wells leaking, and are they also polluting Seneca Lake, the source of drinking water for the local residents," Hang says.
Hang says the contamination is attributed to the oil padding technique, which was once commonly used. This is a method involving fuel injections into salt mines to keep the roof from collapsing.
WENY reached to Crestwood, which took over the property in 2008. They tell us the #49 well, where the 1975 spill originated, is in no way connected to their proposed L-P-G storage project.
In a statement, Vice President Brad Bacon says-"The DEC staff has called out opponents of propane storage for referencing facts and principles that are unproven or irrelevant. The fact is, the DEC has all of this information at its dispoal, and its experts undeniably support the mertis of our propane storage proposal."
For DEC letters regarding Crestwood's Propane Storage Project, click on this link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2ckroywfgoo5snl/August 22 2016 LPS to CALJ%5B8%5D%5B12%5D%5B2%5D.PDF?dl=0 or this link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/1b9oo1jd5d1nqab/DEC reply brief%2C Finger Lake LPG Storage.pdf?dl=0.
For more information about the 1975 spill, click on this link: http://toxicstargeting.com/MarcellusShale/documents/2016-09-20/salt-co-fuel-oil-padding-spill
Proposed gas pipeline expansion in Tompkins raises climate change fears
Photo by Michael Smith/The Ithaca Voice
ITHACA, NY - On Tuesday, the Tompkins Legislature passed a resolution requesting the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) hold a public hearing for a proposed natural gas pipeline expansion in Ithaca.
Plans are in the works to expand the Dominion New Market Pipeline, which runs through a compressor station on Ellis Hollow Creek Road in Dryden. Ithaca environmental group Toxics Targeting recently revealed that there were uncleaned spills along this pipeline, including in Ithaca.
The project would expand on that station and others along the pipeline, to allow for greater pressure and volume of natural gas to be moved through the pipeline. This would most likely involve hydro-fracked gas being moved other states, like Pennsylvania, through New York and into markets further east, like Massachusetts.
The resolution proposed by the legislature called on the DEC to provide for a public hearing in Tompkins County before issuing any approvals. Hearings in three other affected areas have already occurred.
More than a dozen residents spoke during the public comment period, all stating their opposition to the project. While concerns were expressed about the potential safety issues associated with the pipeline expansion, for many who spoke the primary concern was much broader -- the impact of continued use of natural gas on climate change.
"By building infrastructure that enables other states -- Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio -- to move its fracked gas through New York State, we are still enabling, in fact encouraging that to happen elsewhere," said Susan Molter of Ithaca.
Pamela Mackesey, a former Tompkins County legislator, was one of several who urged the legislature to take an even stronger stance on the issue, and amend the resolution to state that the legislature was officially opposed to the project. Mackesey spoke about how during her time in the legislature, the county took a strong stance against fracking and she felt that the same approach was needed here.
"We visibly moved New York State toward a more environmentally responsible that didn't include destruction and deterioration of our amazing environment. It feels as if there isn't that focus and intensity now," Mackesey said. "This is a part of the same battle.... This is an unrelenting effort by a large a powerful industry to get its way in New York State. Vigilance is what we need, and a clear stance about where we stand."
Why not officially oppose the pipeline?
Two additional amendments were added to the resolution. The first asked that the DEC perform a study on the capacity of the pipeline to withstand the additional pressure and volume that would be generated by the expansion. The second requested a similar study on the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions from the expansion.
While sympathetic to the requests for a harder stance, legislators Dooley Kiefer and Anna Kelles both stated that they felt that adding that language to the resolution would undermine the whole thing. They reasoned that if the county was already on record as opposed to the pipeline, the DEC would have little reason to follow through and hold a hearing here.
"What we want is for them to come so we can have the greatest influence, because no phone call or letter will be as powerful as saying something in person," said Kelles.
Kelles attempted to find a middle ground by proposing an amendment that would state the legislature was opposed to the project if the requested public hearing and studies weren't completed, but that amendment failed with four in favor and ten opposed.
The final resolution, with the two amendments requesting studies, passed unanimously.
"A bunch of keystone cops"
However, legislator Mike Sigler expressed a number of issues with the way the arguments against the pipeline were framed. In particular, Sigler said he felt that people were perhaps being too dismissive of the regulatory agencies and companies behind these projects.
Sigler said that it wasn't as if the people who would build the pipeline would out of their way to make a leaky or malfunctioning pipeline, and it wasn't as if the agencies charged with environmental protection didn't care about the environment.
"This idea that the DEC is just a bunch of keystone cops running around and they don't know what they're doing, and we know better than they do... and FERC, they're just a bunch of appointed people who paid their way into those jobs, they don't know what they're doing either," Sigler said.
"I gotta tell ya, I'm at a loss. Who do I believe? ... These guys, this is what they do. I can't believe the people in the EPA have any less concern about the environment than our planning department here in Tompkins County. That's a big stretch. And I haven't lost that much faith in our government that I can make that leap."